The tobacco market in Australia can be understood and quantified in a number of ways. A compilation of factory made cigarette (FMC) and roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco brands by market segment and manufacturer can be found here. Market share can be assessed either by looking at sales figures (from various industry sources, either by volume of products sold or by the value of products sold) or by looking at the proportions of smokers who regularly smoke various sorts of products (from surveys of smokers).

Market share data are collected and analysed by a number of different market research groups. Data on sales in grocery stores is compiled by Retail World magazine and published annually in its end-of-year reports, based on a survey of supermarkets and grocery outlets about sales for previous 12 months up to the month of (roughly) September each year.1 The Nielsen group on the other hand compiles data on sales of products in convenience outlets.2 This is only occasionally published in publicly available sources. Euromonitor International compiles data on the total market across all outlets.3

10.7.1 Market share by company and brand: cigarettes

10.7.1.1 Sales figures relevant to market share

Cigarettes in Australia have almost exclusively been manufactured by three major industry groups: British American Tobacco Australia, Philip Morris Limited, and Imperial Tobacco. Several smaller tobacco companies have limited product ranges available in Australia, including Richland Express and Patron Group. Table 10.7.1 shows the market share of tobacco companies in Australia by volume in 2016 and Table 10.7.2 shows the leading cigarette brands in 2016, ranked by volume.

Table 10.7.1
Market share for cigarettes in 2016—by manufacturing company (% volume and millions of sticks)

Source: Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia. London: Euromonitor International, 2017.4 Data up to 2016 available for purchase or on subscription: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco

Source: Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia. London: Euromonitor International, 2017.4 Data up to 2016 available for purchase or on subscription: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco

Data on changes in market share over time for cigarettes of various tobacco blend, pack size and price segment are also compiled by Euromonitor.

Data from 2014–15 about cigarette sales volumes and value relating just to the Australian grocery sector is set out in Table 10.7.3. This shows the value and volume of the total grocery cigarette market for leading brands in 2014 and the value of sales for leading brands in 2015. It can be seen that the top-five brands in the grocery sector in 2015 (based on value) mirrored those in the total Australian cigarette market as a whole (based on volume) in Table 10.7.2.

Table 10.7.3
Market share for select cigarette brands: volume and value for 2014, and value for 2015—% of total grocery sector market share

Source: Retail World 20145 and 20156* Rothmans was a premium brand until 2014, when it was relaunched as a low-cost super-value brand.7Note: Data on volumes not published in 2015.

Figure 10.7.1 plots sales volume data from the grocery-only sector over time, overall and by market segment. Since 2009, steady declines in sales of premium brands (including Alpine, Benson & Hedges, Dunhill, Marlboro and Peter Stuyvesant) and mainstream brands (including Winfield, Longbeach, Peter Jackson, Escort) can be observed. Sales of traditional value brands such as Horizon, Holiday, and Choice increased until about 2009, and then gradually declined in volume. Over this same period, several new very cheap brands emerged (including Bond Street, JPS, and Rothmans), forming a fourth market segment variously referred to ‘super-value’, ‘sub-value’, or ‘ultra-low cost’. In terms of volume, super-value brands overtook premium brands in grocery-only sales in 2014.

Source: Retail World annual reports, 2006 to 20145,8-15Note: Until 2011 Longbeach was reported as a value brand, but was included in the mainstream segment in Figure 10.7.1 for all years for consistency.

10.7.1.2 Survey data on cigarette brand preferences

While data on brand preferences among adults has been collected from surveys in Victoria and South Australia, neither the Australian Bureau of Statistics Health Survey or the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s National Drug Strategy Household Survey have asked about brand preferences, and so only limited data are available at the national level.

10.7.2 Market share by brand: roll-your-own tobacco

The Australian smoking tobacco market, including roll-your-own and pipe tobacco) is dominated by two major international tobacco companies, collectively accounting for about 90% of sales.4Table 10.7.5 shows that in 2016 Imperial Tobacco Australia accounted for a 64.8% volume share in the smoking tobacco market. British American Tobacco’s share was 27.7%. Table 10.7.6 then shows the leading smoking tobacco brands (all roll-your-own brands) in 2016, ranked by volume.

Source: Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia. London: Euromonitor International, 2017.4 Data up to 2016 available for purchase or on subscription: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco

10.7.3 Market share by brand: cigars

All cigars sold in Australia are imported, and the major Australian cigarette companies are not the only tobacco companies to have substantial engagement in the cigar market. Table 10.7.7 shows market share of cigars and cigarillos by tobacco company in 2016. Table 10.7.8 shows the leading cigar and cigarillo brands in 2016, ranked by volume.

Table 10.7.7
Market share for cigars and cigarillos in 2016—by manufacturing company (% volume and millions of units)

Source: Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia. London: Euromonitor International, 2017.4 Data up to 2016 available for purchase or on subscription: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco

Source: Euromonitor International. Tobacco in Australia. London: Euromonitor International, 2017.4 Data up to 2016 available for purchase or on subscription: http://www.euromonitor.com/tobacco

More detailed recent data about cigar sales volumes and value is available from the Australian grocery sector for 2015. Table 10.7.9 shows the value and volume of the total grocery-only cigar market in 2015. The most popular brand of cigars was Willem II, produced by Philip Morris International, accounting for more than one-third of all cigar sales. Collectively, Scandinavian Tobacco Group products (Café Crème, Henri Wintermans, Amanda, and Old Port) accounted for a similar proportion of the cigar market.

Table 10.7.9
Market share for cigar brands in terms of volume and value for 2015—% of total grocery sector market share